Josh Muir— In Our Hearts and Minds
The Science Gallery Melbourne team are deeply saddened by the passing of celebrated Yorta Yorta/Gunditjmara artist Josh Muir at age 30. Josh’s creativity and passion touched the lives of so many. His openness and honesty about his own challenges with addiction and mental health helped many young people. Both art and creativity were important in helping Josh with his own journey through life, taking inspiration from contemporary street art.
The artist's family has granted permission to use his name and image.
Go Mental by Josh Muir. Photo Credit: Ryan Jefferies
“Art is a therapeutic platform for me. I need art and I can’t go a day without it. It’s my way of voicing how I’m feeling and what I’m going through.”
As part of Science Gallery Melbourne’s inaugural exhibition MENTAL, Josh was commissioned to create a new art installation ‘Go Mental’ within our gallery. This large-scale artwork transports you into a surrealist dreamscape examining Josh's personal experiences. A combination of colour, movement, sound and textures connects you with Josh’s experiences of psychedelic dreams, nightmares, different states of consciousness and the complexities of inner thoughts. These works come from a personal place but are an invitation to better understand the shared human experience of trauma, healing and creativity.
Josh collaborated with students from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music to develop a unique sound track for the installation. Each large inflatable head represents a different mental state and includes a corresponding music composition by Sue-Anne Hsuyin Tan, Mike Callander and Michael Gotze
We are incredibly honoured to have worked with Josh and for him to have shared such a personal work with us for MENTAL. His creative legacy, youth mental health and suicide prevention advocacy will continue to positively impact thousands of young people through Science Gallery.
“I want to set an example by speaking openly about mental health issues. I hope to encourage people to think about their own experiences and share them with others.”
Josh also collaborated with many people across the University of Melbourne. He received a Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship in 2015 through the Victorian College of the Arts, created to enable Indigenous artists to undertake significant projects of their choice. Josh’s work UooUoo Binga was also recently acquired for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences art collection as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations for The Royal Children’s Hospital. Josh was inspired by his son’s imagination in painting Binga, and this vibrant, joyful work now greets visitors to the Alan Gilbert Building.
Josh won the People’s Choice Award at the Victorian Indigenous Arts Awards in 2014, the Youth Award at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Art Awards in 2015 and was a a mental health advocate with Headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation
Our deepest thoughts and condolences are with Josh’s family.
Josh’s accolades include:
People’s Choice Award at the 2014 Victorian Indigenous Arts Awards
Youth Award in the 2015 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Art Awards
Binga the Uoo Uoo by Josh Muir. Phot credit: University of Melbourne